The Radio 1 Madonna controversy is a series of events occurring as a result of BBC Radio 1's decision not to play American singer Madonna's song "Living for Love" in February 2015. Despite receiving a moderate air broadcast from commercial radio at United Kingdom, the single was not added to Radio 1 playlist, leading to age allegations. The controversy comes from an article appearing on the Daily Mail , which quotes an unnamed insider on Radio 1 who describes Madonna as "old" and "irrelevant". In response, singer fans posted many requests for songs on BBC social media accounts, and several artists criticized Radio 1's music policy, prompting the station to release a statement defending their decision not to play the track.
The controversy received significant media coverage in the UK and internationally, sparking a wider discussion of ageism in the music industry. "Living for Love" was then added to the BBC Radio 2 C-list, before being promoted to the B-list. This station serves an audience of 35 and above. Commercially, the single peaked at number 26 on the UK Singles Chart, for the week ending February 28, 2015.
Video Radio 1 Madonna controversy
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Madonna has received many broadcasts on BBC Radio 1 since the beginning of her career and made her first appearance on the station on December 22, 1986, when she was interviewed by Simon Bates during the Shanghai Surprise film promotion. The singer gave the following interviews to Jakki Brambles, Bates, Simon Mayo, Sara Cox, Jo Whiley, and Chris Moyles in 1990, 1991, 1994, 2000, 2001, and 2006, respectively. The station also broadcasted the World Tour Ambaran Blond in 1990 and The Girlie Show World Tour in 1993. On May 10, 2008, Madonna broadcasted Big Weekend Radio 1 in Mote Park, in Maidstone to promote the release of her Hardy >. The first single from the album, "4 Minutes" (2008), was added to station A list.
In 2012, Madonna released her twelfth studio album, MDNA . The lead single, "Give Me All Your Luvin", and subsequent releases of the album were not added to Radio 1 playlists, although former rappers featured Nicki Minaj and M.I.A., two artists who received regular rotation at the station. Radio 1 DJ Scott Mills defends their decision not to play Madonna says, "I do not think we're playing Madonna anymore, there's a lot of research, and if you ask a 17 year old about him, they go 'don' t care '[... ] it's a sign of the times, things change, it's a generational thing.I like Madonna, is it a 17 year old boy? [He] may not be at the top of their list... And that's horrible, but that's how [... ] and also the youth audiences are very fluid in what they like and what they do not like, and they are quite opinionated, you just have to stay on top of that. "
Speaking at the Radio Academy event in 2014, Head of Music, George Ergatoudis, stated that his audience had "moved" from Madonna, and that the majority of his fans were "over 30". He added that the BBC Trust has decided to make Radio 1 a station that appeals to younger demographers, a factor that determines their daylight play.
Maps Radio 1 Madonna controversy
Events
On December 20, 2014, the thirteenth studio album Madonna Rebel Heart became available for pre-order. Unlike other countries, the first single "Living for Love" is only available for pre-order in the United Kingdom, and does not qualify charts until February 25, 2015. On December 22, 2014, "Living for Love" began receiving airplay on commercial radio, Capital FM, where the song was finally added to the station playlist.
On January 9, 2015, Annie Mac played "Living for Love" on Radio 1 during her evening dance performance. In a subsequent interview with The Independent, Mac said that his mission was to "represent the new music landscape honestly", and hoped that older artists like Madonna should not be removed from the station. "I am a Madonna fan of a lifetime and I play it on my Friday show. [...] If I get excited with a song, then I think it'll be okay to play it", Mac concluded.
An article published by the Daily Mail on February 14, 2015 quotes an unnamed BBC Radio 1 insider stating that "Living for Love" will not be played on the station because Madonna is "irrelevant" and "old ". Radio 1 then dismissed claims on their Facebook page, stating that the station "does not prohibit anyone". One of his representatives explained that the song was chosen based on "music reward" and the age of an artist was never a factor when choosing a song for their playlist.
Reception
The Daily Mail article quickly became viral, and hundreds of messages left on Facebook's Radio 1 page from Madonna fans urged the station to play "Living for Love". Support for the singer soon spread to Twitter and Instagram accounts on the station, with fans posting links to the "Living for Love" video, her appearance at the 57th Annual Grammy Awards, and a post claiming that the BBC was discriminating.
Madonna has the support of artists such as Boy George, Elly Jackson, Diplo and Rita Ora. Shirley Manson writes on her Twitter account that Madonna should "consider prosecuting Radio 1 for discrimination at work", and that the station's music policy is "bordering, if inactive, illegal". The media response to the controversy generally supported Madonna, with The Sun ' and Dan Wootton criticizing Radio 1's decision not to play the track. Describing the station's daytime playlist as "Cray List" in his column, Wootton listed some artists who struggled to receive radio broadcasts 1, including Robbie Williams, Take That, and Meghan Trainor.
Madonna posted a newspaper clipping featuring stories on her Twitter account and Instagram, and thanked her fans for their support. In an interview with Wootton on The Sun, the singer called the disappearances "unfair" and "discriminatory", and felt that ageism is a taboo that has not been discussed. He also remembers discussing the incident with his manager Guy Oseary and admits that it was confusing for him to know that artists in their fifties could not play on the radio, without exception. "We have made so much progress in other areas - civil rights, gay rights - but ageism is still a taboo area and not discussed and dealt with," he concluded.
BBC rebuttal and tail
The BBC quickly denied the allegations against age, and explained that the songs were selected on a case-by-case basis to be included in their weekly playlists. Their representatives noted that Sir Paul McCartney had two songs on the playlist, although critics pointed out that both of these songs were collaborations with young artists (McCartney performing on "Just One", with Kanye West, and "FourFiveSeconds", with Rihanna). The station further mentions David Guetta, Foo Fighters, and Sia as examples of older artists who make their playlists. In an interview with The Daily Telegraph Radio controller 1 Ben Cooper explained that the station did not "ban" Madonna, and that a group of twelve people aged 16-24 would meet regularly to review the output network music, determining the choice of music relevant to their demographics.
In an interview with Daily Mirror , Mills defended the station's decision not to play the song. He declared, "[Radio 1 is] trying to get the average listener's age down and, honestly, the majority of Madonna fans are in their 30s and 40s." I actually do not mind the new single, but I think Radio "I have to play it? Probably not. "According to the Official Charts Company," Living for Love "moves toward the top twenty UK Singles Chart with two available sales days as reported in their mid-week graphics report.The movie finally debuted at number 26 on the chart with sales 17,936 copies, became 71 major in the 71st position of Madonna, extending her notes as a female artist with the most top-forty British singles.
See also
- The BBC controversy
- "True Love", a Beatles song that received a similar treatment in 1996
References
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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